Wickford 177-a/o
Woodford Wells 178-5
(Division One)

WELLS moved a giant step closer to a return to the top flight of Essex cricket with a five-wicket win at Wickford.

The hosts opened the batting and made a solid start through top order trio Darren Batch (43), Shaggi Desai (21) and Matthew Bate (22).

But the only other score of note, as Wickford crashed all out for 177, came from tail-ender Andrew Baker with an undefeated 34.

Rory Ellison proved Wells’ top man with the ball, as he recorded excellent figures of 6-48 from his 17 overs.

The main support came from Robert Smith, who also produced a fine performance to finish on 3-78 from his 18 overs.

The visitors’ reply got off to a shaky start as both Robert Marshall (eight) and Brendan Ferguson (nil) departed cheaply.

Solid displays with the willow, however, from Edward Murphy (27), Hasan Chowdhury (58*) and skipper Will Rogers (62) saw the visitors home with plenty to spare.

Danny Pryke (3-51) had done his best to halt the Monkhams Lane outfits' title charge, but they take a 24-point lead into the final three games of the season.